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Friday, December 8, 2006

More Reason to Mistrust Myers?

As if there weren’t enough reason to oppose William Myers III for a position on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, there have been several news stories this week on questions plaguing his nomination.

The Denver Postreported that Myers is being asked to clear up a discrepancy between his sworn Senate Judiciary Committee hearing testimony that he had never met infamous lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and evidence that while Myers was the Solicitor for the U.S. Department of the Interior, he “attended a 2001 party organized for Abramoff and his clients to lobby Bush administration officials who oversaw Indian gambling.” The party was attended by about twenty-four people.

Meanwhile, Greenwirereported (subscription only) that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that casts more controversy on Myers. The case will decide whether “a Wyoming rancher can sue Bureau of Land Management employees under a law designed to prosecute organized crime syndicates.” Myers’ involvement in the case stems from his disputed participation in a controversial settlement agreement while he was Interior Solicitor. Myers testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that he never saw the settlement, but the plaintiff in the case says otherwise.